Articles in the Civic Life Category

By Linsay Rousseau Burnett —
Update: On November 19th, the California Supreme court agreed to hear the lawsuits but denied a motion for an immediate stay.
Update: Alameda County and the City of San Mateo unanimously voted in closed session to join the lawsuits on November 18th. The city of Oakland voted in closed session to join the lawsuits on November 19th.

In a four to one vote, the Fremont City Council voted on November 18th, to become a party in the now four lawsuits being waged against the state in opposition of …

By Mateen Kaul —
NEWARK – In a public forum Monday night, the city managers of Fremont, Newark and Union City detailed the stresses on their budgets because of falling tax revenues and the state budget crisis.

By Tyler Sipe —
Many soldiers returning from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan are increasingly connecting with fellow veterans using the Internet, as evidenced by the launch of social networking Web sites like www.CommunityofVeterans.org and www.myvetwork.org

[17 Nov 2008 | Comments Off on Fremont City Council to Discuss Support for Prop 8 Lawsuit | ]

Story by Linsay Rousseau Burnett
At November 18th’s Fremont City Council meeting, City Attorney Harvey Levine will be presenting his legal brief concerning three lawsuits filed by the city and county of San Francisco and a handful of other city and county governments challenging the legal authority of Proposition 8. According to Mayor Bob Wasserman, the request that the city sign onto the lawsuits did not come from the San Francisco city attorney, but from local residents.
At the meeting, city council members will discuss potential actions the city can take, or …

Story by: Linsay Rousseau Burnett
With unemployment reaching new highs and the rate of foreclosures showing no sign of slowing, stability becomes a fleeting concept for families who find themselves out of work and out of a home. For children, this instability and impermanence could potentially jeopardize their education. Since 1987, a federal program has been in place to help assist these children and as their numbers rise, these services have become increasingly pertinent.

By Will Jason
On any given weekday, if there is a public lecture or seminar at the University of California, Berkeley, there is a good chance it is listed on Lowell Moorcroft’s online calendar.
For more than four years, Moorcroft, 62, has used university computers to publish “Lowell’s Listings — Intellectual Events Around U.C. Berkeley.” The site has developed a following among local retirees and others who come to the campus to learn about everything from the siege of Sarajevo to the capture and storage of greenhouse gases.

[15 Nov 2008 | Comments Off on Audio: Falling Gas Prices Just a Drop In the Bucket | ]

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[audio:http://rosebud.journalism.berkeley.edu/~j200/510report/gas_prices.mp3]
Gas prices dropped by one third in the past month, from $3.52 to $2.37. But with the economy in convulsions, does anyone even notice?

By Adelaide Chen
Nothing could spoil election night for volunteers who had donated time and money to send freshman Congressman Jerry McNerney (D-Pleasanton) back to Washington D.C. for a second term.
McNerney delivered his victory speech just before midnight at an election party a few hours after Barack Obama’s Presidential win. A crowd had stayed under the white tent in the parking lot of a union hall in Dublin to see McNerney’s moment of triumph, although Obama’s televised acceptance speech had ended and the caterers had packed up.
McNerney had led former State Assemblyman and Republican Dean Andal throughout the evening on the big television screen. In the end, the vote would turn out 55.4 percent McNerney, 44.6 percent Andal.
Democrats scored a …

By Mateen Kaul
The United States needs greater economic and diplomatic efforts, rather than just a better military strategy, to improve the situation in Afghanistan, according to Afghans settled in Fremont.

Story by Linsay Rousseau Burnett
Hollywood often stereotypes librarians as mousy women in horn-rimmed glasses who hide behind books. But the work of a librarian is not limited to searching databases and silencing noisy patrons. As mandated by the Young Adult Services Association (part of the American Library Association), an element of advocacy underlies the work that librarians do. For one Alameda County Librarian, she took the mandate of advocacy to heart to ensure that her patrons, the inmates of the Alameda Juvenile Detention Hall, were not disenfranchised during the 2008 …